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Archive for the ‘Guest Blog Posts’ Category

Despite the problems that every Filipinos are facing in their everyday lives, regardless of where they are, the Filipinos have made it to the list of people experiencing positive emotions on a daily basis.

A research made by Gallup.com last year indexed the percentage of happy people around the world, taking into consideration criteria like how often they laugh or smile, experience enjoyment, treated with respect and feel well-rested.

Most people who scored high in the survey was from the Latin American countries, comprising most of the top 10 spots. The Filipinos, surprisingly, made it to the 5th rank. However, the lowest positive emotions were from people living in the Middle East and North African regions.

Filipinos in the 5th rank? Well, this may be good news since this is a positive review and we ranked well. But, do we really feel that positive emotion? Are we really happy despite everything?

Everyday, in the news, we’ll hear about a government official exposed for his corrupt deed, a crime victim, fare hike, basic utility bills hike, transportation malfunction, and more.

Such negative news that you would watch on tv program, hear on the radio car, and read on newspaper or the web. Now I wonder, how the Filipinos made it to the 5th spot?

When you ask a Filipino about how well can he or she compare his or her present status, you’ll surely receive complains that its not any better or it had gotten worse than before. But still, they’ll add it can do, they can still survive.

Yes, we Filipinos are resilient. How many typhoons had destructed not only our homes, but our lives and yet we continue to fight and survive? We Filipinos managed to shrug it off and smile, knowing that we can go on with our lives.

Because our strong faith is our asset. We always surrender everything to God, knowing that He will not neglect us. He will never forget us and will make a way to help us survive and be strong again to stand and continue our life.

Again, do you agree that the Filipinos were among the happiest people in the world? Yes, I do. Just like the campaign slogan, it’s more fun in the Philippines. It’s more fun for Filipinos.

Technology and globalization have caused tremendous shifts in the worldwide labor market in the last three decades.

In developing economies like China, Brazil, and the Philippines, millions of non-farm jobs were created, moving people from rural areas to cities for better-paying jobs. On the other hand, advanced economies like the US and Singapore revved up growth and productivity by investing in technology and low-cost labor, while creating high-wage jobs for high-skill workers.

The result was a massive skill shortage in the very occupations critical to fast growth: high-skill jobs, particularly in finance and business services, retail trade and hospitality, construction and public services; domestic care to support the rise in dual-income households; and health care to support greying populations.

To address the shortage, advanced economies are doing three things: growing tertiary education attainment and raising the share of graduates for the specific fields facing shortages, re-training middle-career workers to upgrade skills, and welcoming more high-skill workers from other countries to immigrate.

With fast-growing populations and increasing access to global markets, developing economies like China, Brazil, and the Philippines became leading contributors of immigrant workers in these advanced economies.

Filipinos have got what it takes to cut it.

Among developing economies contributing to the global labor market, the Philippine workforce has the biggest percentage of tertiary school graduates.

A key solution to the global skill shortage— improving education and upgrading skills is something that the Philippines has been cleverly cracking in the last decade. Young people choose specialisations like business, IT, hospitality, retail, and healthcare with the global job market in mind. Skill upgrade through second degrees, certifications, and occupation trainings have become very common in the Philippine education and employment scene.

Because of the country’s history, the Filipino culture and skill set has the gems of both the East and the West, making them highly valuable in the global job market for their Asian strengths and high level of adaptability to the Western world.

Not at all unknown to many, Filipinos’ English proficiency is high. “The island attained a score above 7, putting them within a range of a high proficiency that indicates an ability to lead business discussions and perform complex tasks.” -Forbes Magazine

With vast waters dividing the islands of the Philippine archipelago, the first move out of home and into a city often entails much psycho-emotional investment. Past that first big move though, journeying a little farther to other countries becomes a breeze.

Filipinos are such a happy bunch of people who can be happy, driven, and competent in any city, any country, any culture.

The Philippine social system can support the temporary absence of overseas workers. Community lives are so closely intertwined and the Filipino heart is so big that no child is ever parentless. With every parent who flies out of the country comes a network of foster parents (aunts, teachers, neighbors, friends) very much willing and able to care for someone else’s children like their own.

Filipinos are up to something. And yes, it’s something big.

The bigger worldview that Overseas Filipino Workers acquire and share with their families back home is raising a generation of Filipinos who are not at all daunted by financial, geographical, or cultural barriers to putting their skills and strengths out there and building a better life out of it.

As a developing economy, the Philippine Peso is naturally cheaper than the currencies of advanced economies. Thus, money earned by Overseas Filipino Workers, when sent or brought back home, doubles or triples in worth. This huge inflow of money is sending millions of Filipino children all the way to tertiary level and even post-graduate studies, and is used as capitalisation for new business enterprises— the perfect recipe to break the cycle of poverty.

So the next time someone asks why so many Filipinos are working abroad, the answer is simple. 1) Advanced economies have a shortage of skills and Filipinos have what it takes to fill it. 2) Filipinos are choosing to take an inconvenient big leap, rather than easy strides, to progress.

“The Philippines is set to leapfrog 27 places to become the 16th largest economy in the world by 2050.” -HSBC Global Research

Overseas Filipino Workers— call it one sacrificial generation. Soon, Filipinos will never have to leave.
By: Ethel Sanchez

Data Sources:

The World at Work: Jobs, Pay, and Skills for 3.5 Billion People, McKinsey Global Institute, 2012